Irish let a golden chance slip by

When challenged Wales proved themselves to be genuine contenders and grabbed control of the game, scoring two tries in 20 minutes

Rob Kearney breaks through the Wales defence but is quickly hounded by three players

V
ibrant, edgy, full-blooded — but not the classic that had been predicted,
simply because Wales were so demonstrably the better side. Playing at the
stadium where they had been cruelly denied on the first weekend of the
tournament, and playing before a crowd that was two parts green to one part
red, Warren Gatland’s young team came of age to set up a semi-final against
France in Auckland next Saturday. You wouldn’t bet against them on this
evidence. They did a number on Ireland.

Gatland always enjoys winning against the crowd that sacked him but this was
special, a coaching tour-de-force. Wales out-attacked Ireland, stretching
them wide before the break and then pinning them in their own half after it,
with Rhys Priestland growing in maturity as the match wore on. They
out-defended them too. In fact, it was when they were without the ball that
Wales controlled the game.